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All Our Yesterdays (episode)
Kirk, Spock and McCoy are trapped in a planet's distant past, where Spock finds love with an exiled woman. Summary Kirk, Spock and McCoy transport down to the planet Sarpeidon, the star of which, Beta Niobe, is about to go nova. The three of them are surprised to find out that there are no inhabitants of Sarpeidon left. They encounter Mr. Atoz, the librarian, who tells the men from the Enterprise that the planet's population was warned about the nova, and has escaped by traveling into the planet's past. Kirk, and McCoy are intrigued by the library, and start exploring the discs which link the library to the planet's past. Kirk is viewing a disc of an era that resembles 17th century England, while McCoy is viewing one of Sarpeidon's ice age. Suddenly, a scream is heard coming from the outside of the library portal. Kirk runs to it, and is transported to the era of the disc that he's just seen. Spock and McCoy immediately follow, and appear in a frozen waste. Log Entries *''"Captain’s log, stardate 5943.7. We have calculated that Beta Niobe will go nova in approximately three and a half hours. Its only satellite, Sarpeidon, is a Class-M planet, which at last report, was inhabited by a civilized humanoid species. Now, our instruments show that no intelligent life remains on the planet."'' *''"Captain’s log, stardate 5943.9. People of this time believe in witches, and witchcraft is what I've been accused of. Five witnesses heard McCoy's voice speak to me and thought it was an evil spirit. From what I know of witchcraft trials, I don't have much chance unless I can get to the prosecutor."'' Memorable Quotes "You're very late!" "You're a very agile man, Mr. Atoz! Just how many of you are there?" : - Atoz and Kirk "You stubborn, thick-headed Vulcan!" : - McCoy "Wiiiiitch! Wiiiiitch! They'll burn ya!" : - The Mort in her cell "I'm game, love. Lead and I'll follow. Where's library?" : - The Mort "Think, Spock – what's happening on your planet right now?" "My people are barbarians... warlike barbarians." "Who nearly killed themselves off with their own passions. Spock – you're reverting back to the ways of your ancestors... ''five thousand years before you were born!" : - '''McCoy' and Spock "I'm behaving disgracefully. I have eaten animal flesh and I've enjoyed it. What is wrong with me?" : - Spock "I don't like that. I don't think I ever did, and now I'm sure." : - Spock to McCoy "We're in a wilderness of arctic characteristics!" "He means it's cold!" : - Spock and McCoy, talking to Kirk through the atavachron "Away, away spirit! And let honest men approach." : - The Constable, on hearing Spock and McCoy's voices Background Information *The title for this episode is from Shakespeare's Macbeth, Act V, Scene 5, line 22: "And all our yesterdays have lighted fools/ The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle." Other episodes with titles from Shakespeare are TOS: "Dagger of the Mind", "The Conscience of the King", "By Any Other Name; TNG: "Thine Own Self"; and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country * Story outline, "A Handful of Dust" had Spock and McCoy trapped in a desert wasteland, with McCoy dying from the desert heat when the pair was captured by radioactive mutants, and there was no Zarabeth. Kirk was trapped in a period which resembled San Francisco's Barbary Coast, but returns to the library with another time traveler. At the end the time traveler who helped Kirk destroys the time portal. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy flee the building as it literally collapses to dust behind them. :William Shatner later starred in a short-lived TV series called Barbary Coast. * Final draft script , revised final draft five days later, filmed late December. A scene in the story draft that, unfortunately, did not end up being filmed, would have had McCoy "stuck" in the time doorway, with part of his body in the present and the rest in the past. * Mr. Atoz's name is a word play - a librarian named "A to Z" * Mr. Spock's claim that Vulcan is "millions of light years away" from Sarpeidon is laughable. The [[USS Voyager|USS Voyager]] was thrown only 70,000 away from Federation space in "Caretaker", which at maximum warp, would take seventy-five years to return to. If Mr. Spock's claim was true, the Enterprise would never be able to return to Vulcan (or Earth, for that matter) again. :However Mr. Spock's claim is just that, a claim, he could have been using a hyperbole * According to David Gerrold at a 1986 Star Trek convention in Spokane, Washington, the inventors of the compact disc got their inspiration from the data discs used in Mr. Atoz's library. :Gerrold's information was almost certainly nothing more than a joke on his part. James Russell is generally credited with inventing the compact disc three years prior to this episode in 1965, ending up with a total of 22 patents for various aspects of it. * It is possible that Kirk's description to the prosecutor of Earth as an island was a tribute to the science fiction film "This Island Earth." *Bantam Books published a series of novelizations called "foto-novels," which took photographic stills from actual episodes and arranged word balloons and text over them, to create a comic book formatted story. The sixth installment was an adaptation of this episode. * The brief swordfight scene is the only outdoor shot in the series after "The Paradise Syndrome". *George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) and Walter Koenig (Chekov) do not appear in this episode. James Doohan (Scotty) does not appear on screen but has several voice-over lines. *The interior of the Enterprise is not seen in this episode while the ship itself is only seen in the first and last scenes. This is the only episode of the original series in which none of the action takes place aboard the ship. * Mariette Hartley (Zarabeth) was not allowed to show her belly-button in this episode, despite the appearances of other navels in previous episodes. To comment on this censorship, Gene Roddenberry gave Hartley's character two navels in his pilot, "Genesis II." * According to the stardate this episode is chronologically the last of the series, even though its production number and air date are earlier. It would be interesting to know if Star Trek history would have been different if this episode aired last instead of "Turnabout Intruder". It is unlikely that it could have prevented the cancellation, though, since that was already written in stone by this time. * Interestingly, although this is the penultimate episode of the series, All Our Yesterdays is (alphabetically speaking) the first episode! * The stock footage showing the endless snow fields on the disc McCoy watches was also used as the surface of Exo III in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?". * The atavachron device is the reused prop of Gary Seven's computer from "Assignment: Earth". * The floor of the Sarpeidon library is identical to the floor of the asylum on Elba II in "Whom Gods Destroy." * Kirk leaves his phaser pistol behind in Sarpeidon's past. * The novels Yesterday's Son and Time for Yesterday are non-canon follow-ups to this episode, concerning a conceived child of Spock and Zarabeth named "Zar." Production Timeline * Story outline by Jean Lisette Aroeste, . * Revised story outline, . * First draft teleplay, . * Second draft teleplay, . * Final draft teleplay, . * Filmed in late December 1968 Links and References *VHS edition available through Amazon under ISBN 6300988740. Main cast * William Shatner as Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * DeForest Kelley as McCoy * James Doohan as Scott (voice only) Guest Stars * Ian Wolfe as Mr. Atoz * Mariette Hartley as Zarabeth * Kermit Murdock as the Prosecutor * Johnny Haymer as the Constable * Ed Bakey as First Fop * Al Cavens as Second Fop * Stan Barrett as Jailer * Anna Karen as Mort References atavachron; Beta Niobe; Beta Niobe system; class M; Sarpeidon; Sarpeidon Ice Age; suicide; verism tape; Vulcan; Vulcan (planet); witch; Zor Kahn External Links * Category:TOS episodes de:Portal in die Vergangenheit es:All Our Yesterdays nl:All Our Yesterdays